Wild Rice Cooking: History, Natural History, Harvesting, and Lore [Paperback]

Susan Carol Hauser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2004

A complete guide to harvesting and cooking wild rice--with eighty recipes and a fascinating history of the plant. Winner of the Minnesota Book Award.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Wild rice, the upper Midwest's gift to gastronomy, used to be considered too rare, too exotic, and too expensive to cook in homes outside its native habitat. Today the grain is almost universally available, found in supermarkets in its pure state or mixed with white rice. Wild rice's crunchy texture and nutty flavor make it a gourmet's delight, far removed from its prehistoric role as the sustenance crop of the Ojibwa tribes, who harvested it from the lakes of what is now Minnesota. Hauser describes the different grades of wild rice available in stores and explains the best ways to cook each. Her recipes reflect elaborations that Minnesota home cooks and professional chefs have brought to wild rice, combining it with their European heritage to produce quiches, jambalayas, meat loaves, pilafs, risotti, and casseroles. Along the way, Hauser outlines wild rice's history and cultivation. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A true appreciation of wild rice....charming. -- Minneapolis Star Tribune

Complete with more than 75 recipes...this book should satisfy any craving. -- Publishers Weekly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159228535X
• ISBN-13: 978-1592285358
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Rice & Grains

More About the Author

Susan Carol Hauser
www.susancarolhauser.com
BLOG susancarolhauser.wordpress.com

Hauser is an established writer with four natural history books published by The Lyons Press and Falcon Guides (Globe Pequot), a book on memoir writing with Writer's Digest Books, and seven books with literary presses.

Her book on a Mississippi River trip is scheduled for publication June 2011 by the Center for American Places, Columbia College Chicago (George Thompson, editor).

She has published scholarly articles in Scribner's American Writers series and her freelance work has been published in The Sun, the Old Farmer's Almanac and many other magazines and journals.

Her numerous awards and grants include a 2010 McKnight Artist Fellowship in poetry.

She was a commentator on National Public Radio's "Living on Earth" for four years and has been a guest on Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Rice - My Favorite Food!, February 21, 2011

By 

Nathanael Greene "targeted father" (metropolitan Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wild Rice Cooking: History, Natural History, Harvesting, and Lore (Paperback)

I spent my childhood on the Great Lakes, where I was introduced to wild rice sixty years ago. Back then wild rice was a rare luxury - like buying jewelry. Wild Rice has been my absolute favorite food ever since.

Wild rice always had a spiritual appeal to me.

Wild rice only grows in the Great Lakes region, and no where else in the world - so this unique native U.S. food, with its association with American Indians, also has a patriotic appeal. Ironically, I purchased my copy of this book in the gift shop of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. - which adds to this book's special attraction. This book should remain a permanent offering at the Museum of the American Indian's gift shop.

Unlike so many cookbooks, a very high percentage of this book's 80 recipes are strongly appealing as particularly tasty - they all are "just the right sort" of wild rice recipes. Many of these recipes are family or personal favorites that were contributed to the author.

All of my life, finding information about wild rice was like seeking the Holy Grail - almost an impossible endeavor. So this book is extremely welcome - it has no competitors, and is a potential classic. The author lives in Minnesota - in the heart of wild rice country - where this charming book received the 2001 "Minnesota Book Award" (her second book to win this award).

My only disappointment is that this book did not contain more nutritional information about wild rice - this Minnesota author seems well positioned to easily obtain this information, which should be readily available from local Indian sources and wild rice information centers.

I hope this book stays in print - it's a gem and potential classic. I will certainly purchase any revised and expanded editions.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book! Interesting and Useful., March 24, 2010

By 

Wendy Tobler (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wild Rice Cooking: History, Natural History, Harvesting, and Lore (Paperback)

This is a fascinating, all encompassing read about black rice in our country (or, is it a grain?). The author takes you along as she personally harvests a wild crop near her home in the way that our Native Americans always have, then describes the stages of processing, and later reveals how its modern cultivation came about. Comparisons among the various species are explained, and photos advise what an undercooked versus overcooked product looks like. Incorporated throughout the book's myriad other facts are numerous recipes for everything from breakfasts to dinners to snacks (did you know you can pop wild rice?). I found this a very fun read and will never again leave my pantry bare of the "manoomin" that I've loved for years, but which I'll now appreciate even more.